Air New Zealand weigh-in for international passengers until 2 July
It’s a measure for flight safety… Criticism of the previous stage of ‘weight system fare’
A New Zealand airline has begun conducting weight checks on international passengers. It is said that the average weight of passengers is measured to prevent aircraft safety accidents, but netizens are protesting that it is not to impose additional fares according to weight.
According to the New Zealand Herald on the 29th (local time), local airline Air New Zealand announced that it would measure the weight of international passengers at Auckland International Airport for the next five weeks until July 2nd.
Air New Zealand explained that the decision was made to revalidate the safety of flight operations by examining the average weight of passengers. Air New Zealand conducts this survey every five years. Participation in the survey is the passenger’s free choice. Passengers who do not agree to be weighed simply need to weigh their carry-on baggage as usual.
Air New Zealand plans to collect at least 10,000 samples to increase the reliability of the survey.
In addition to luggage, the average weight of passengers is directly related to the fuel consumption of the aircraft, so it is sensitive to safety issues. In fact, Samoa Airways, the national airline of Samoa, applied the world’s first ‘weight-based fare’ in 2013, which determines fares based on body weight and baggage weight.
Air New Zealand said the investigation was required to comply with Civil Aviation Authority New Zealand regulations. Air New Zealand Load Control Improvement Specialist Alastair James said: “(This survey) is essential for the safety and efficient operation of our aircraft.
However, criticism is also not uncommon. Recently, a controversy arose among netizens about an American airline measuring the weight of passengers.
In March, a video of an airline measuring the weight of passengers was released on the short-form video platform TikTok, causing controversy. The netizen who posted this video explained the situation at the time, saying, “A female passenger claimed that she weighed 130 pounds (about 59 kg), and her staff demanded additional weight checks.”
Netizens reacted to this, such as “It is a measure to discriminate against obese passengers” and “It was inevitable for the safety of the aircraft during the flight.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.